The Pioneer unit was the last of the
drives to test. With specifications close to the Plextor, I
was anticipating a similar experience. Included in the
package was an audio cable, software, owners manual,
mounting screws, drive opener, 1 DVD-RW disc, and a DVD-R
disc? Manual is very basic, but easy to read. It has a very
limited amount of information, the least of all three units
reviewed.
Installation was flawless, without any
problems whatsoever. The media tray is solid, and very easy
to use.
Included Software
Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.3 Basic – This
is the basic data recording software for use with all
supported media
ArcSoft Showbiz 1.1 – Video editing
software with special effects capabilities
Sonic MyDVD Version 4.0 – DVD video
authoring and editing software
Sonic CinePlayer 1.5 – DVD Video
playback software
Pinnacle Instant Write 4.0 – Packet
writing software for data back up
Test Drive
I found the Pioneer drive to get mixed
in the crowd. Not that this is a bad thing, to me it’s good.
I had no real problems with the drive. It supports DVD-R/RW
media, it’s fast, and compatibility is good. Let’s take a
look at the specifications:
Pioneer
DVR-A05
DVD-R
4x
DVD-RW
2x
DVD-RAM
-
DVD+R
-
DVD+RW
-
CD-R
16x
CD-RW
8x
DVD-ROM (read)
12x
CD-ROM (read)
32x
The only real problem with the Pioneer
drive was the fact that it did not show accurate record
times when burning discs. For some reason, while using
RecordNow, the record times were always wrong, within five
minutes. It would count down while recording, then around 5
minutes left, it would be done. Not a big deal at all, but
just something I encountered.
